May 2024 Meetup
Matt delivers the News Roundup and Lachlan gives a brief Propeller 2 update.
Update: The video recording has been posted on the MicroPython YouTube channel.
News Round-up
Headlines
Happy 11th Birthday MicroPython!
See the tweet.
MicroPython v1.23 Release
Stay tuned, it’s close!
Arduino Alvik
The Arduino Alvik has started shipping. At US$140 it isn’t cheap, but the initial reports seem really positive. Seems perfect for STEM education!
The arduino-alvik-mpy
MicroPython was also released. A mip-installable library from Arduino!
Alex Glow’s unboxing videos at hackster.io are always good and the Alvik unboxing is no exception.
PyCon
PyCon US is wrapping up, May 15-23 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It’s a fantastic source to learn more about Python - check out the schedule for sessions you might be interested in and keep an eye on the PyCon US 2024 YouTube Playlist as all the presentations are recorded and will eventually be freely available.
Two sessions of interest for us are:
- Introduction to MicroPython: getting started with BBC micro:bit by Juliana Karoline de Sousa
- Connecting Old to New with CircuitPython: Retrocomputer input devices on modern PCs by Jeff Epler
There are also 3x sessions (!) involving PyScript:
- Making Your Documentation Interactive with PyScript by Jeff Glass
- Interactive Software Documentation, with PyScript by Valerio Maggio
- Build in-browser 3D experiences with WebGL and PyScript by Łukasz Langa
PyScript
PyScript is moving rapidly!
PyScript.net contains PyScript documentation…and now provides an interactive MicroPython REPL in your browser! And there is now increasing support to interact with the DOM from MicroPython. It’s becoming very usable very quickly.
Andreas Giammarchi (Twitter) provided a short but awesome demo blinking an LED - no big deal except that this is MicroPython in the browser…controlling MicroPython on a device!
Andreas has also released micro-repl, a SerialPort based MicroPython REPL for the browser.
PySheets
PySheets is “The Spreadsheet UI for Python”. Runs in the browser and is commercial, built on PyScript. Interestingly, it appears to use both CPython and MicroPython back-ends - the former for calculation and providing data science capabilities, the latter for managing the UI.
One of the developers added to the Hacker News announcement (look for ‘laffra’).
MicroPython in the browser is - apparently - already here!
Matt’s New Hardware
Espressif ESP32-H2 (DevKitM-1)
96MHz RISC-V, 4MB flash, 320KB RAM, 19 GPIO, BLE/Thread/Zigbee (no wifi).
Unexpected Maker: Bling! and TinyC6
- Stunning! 320x (40x8) RGB LED Matrix.
- ESP32-S3 (dual-core 240MHz), Wifi/BLE
- 8MB Flash, 2MB PSRAM
- Buttons, Battery charger
- I2S Mic & amp, RTC, uSD, STEMMA QT
(Three versions are available, this is the ‘full’ Hello BLING.)
- ESP32-C6, 160MHz RISC-V, Wifi/BLE
- 8MB Flash, 512KB SRAM
- Battery charging, RGB LED
NXP FRDM-MCXN947 dev board
Bought to help test PR #13429
- 150MHz Dual-core Cortex M33
- 2MB dual-bank flash, 512KB RAM
- 124 GPIO, DSP accel, Neural accel, CAN, Eth, touch…
Hardware News
RT-Thread/Renesas Vision Board
A collaboration between RT-Thread and Renesas (?).
- Renesas R7FA8D1BH 480MHz Cortex M85 - first board to use this processor?
- Internal: 2MB flash, 1MB SRAM
- External: 8MB flash, 32MB SRAM
- Wifi (Renesas RW007)
- Display support: MIPI and RGB666
- OpenMV Port already available!
AUD$53/64 (with cam and LCD)
Cytron Maker Uno RP2040
- RP2040: Dual-core Cortex M0 @133MHz
- 264KB RAM, 2MB flash
- Expansion galore: 6x grove, Arduino UNO headers, STEMMA QT, 12 pin header for servos
- LEDs on 16 GPIO
US$15
Maker Uno RP2040 review at CNX
Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32-C6
Seeed Studio announced their XIAO ESP32-C6.
ESP32-C6 (160MHz RISC-V, WiFi/BLE/Matter, 512KB RAM), XIAO form-factor, 4MB Flash, on-board & external antenna.
US$5.20
Waveshare
More to report next month, but Waveshare continue to announce interesting products…
ESP32-S3 1.69” Touch Development Board, 240×280 With Accelerometer And Gyroscope
US$22
CNX review their ESP32-S3 1.69” touch device
US$9
SparkFun Thing Plus - RA6M5
Sparkfun annouced the latest addition to their Thing+ range, Introducing the RA6M5 Thing+.
Specs:
- Renesas 200MHz RA6M5
- 2MB+16MB flash, 512KB RAM, microSD
- BLE (via Renesas DA14531MOD module)
- Feather feetprint, Qeiic connector
US$50
Olimex ESP32-POE2
An update to their venerable POE board, the Olimex ESP32-POE2 has an ESP32 (4MB flash/8MB RAM) at it’s heart but the unique feature is on the power side. This board can supply 24V/0.75A or 12V/1.5A - as well as an additional 5V/1.5A - to an external circuit.
Olimex have also open-sourced the hardware, software and documentation under permissive licenses, check out their repository ESP32-POE2.
Software News
MicroPython on the Playdate
Discussed last month, Christian hasn’t stopped working on his MicroPython port to the Playdate. It now has access to the filesystem!
I followed his straightforward instructions to build the port and now MicroPython is running on my Playdate too!
To make this a viable development framework for Playdate (and PewPew), more of the Playdate C API needs to be exposed…for example, there are APIs to play sounds, load sprites and interact with the crank. All of this can be done and Christian has provided the template to do so!
mpflash: Your Ultimate MicroPython Flashing Companion
See discussion #14395.
Regular MicroPython contributor Jos Verlinde (@josverl) released his Python application, mpflash.
It’s a command-line utility to assist in deploying MicroPython firmware to devices. It can list connected boards, detect and download the appropriate image and flash it to your device.
Jos is looking for feedback so please give it a try and let him know how you go.
microPyEZfonts
See discussion #14455.
Owen Carter (@easytargget) is also looking for feedback for his recently-released microPyEZfonts. Building on Peter Hinch’s excellent micropython-font-to-py it both complements and adds some improved features including transparency and many pre-packaged free-to-use fonts.
If you’re want to render fonts on a display, particularly if using framebuf, you need to check out microPyEZfonts!
uPython WiFi Setup
See discussion #14454.
Shane Powell (@shaneapowell) released upython-wifi-setup, a library to help users connect to your device over wifi.
It will create a temporary access point the the first time it’s used, acting like a captive portal - but it will also scan and display wifi SSIDs that it detects. A user can then select one and provide authentication details; the device will then use this connection from that point on.
It’s easy to integrate to your own projects, is async-compatible and works with the popular microdot web framework.
ESP32-C6 port
Andrew started PR #11869 to add support for the ESP32-C6. I’ve been helping, there are now board definitions for GENERIC_C6, M5Stack NanoC6, UM TinyC6.
The ESP32-C6 is an interesting micro, affordable but powerful! Please help test if you have such a compatible device.
Other board definitions
I’ve been trying to backfill MicroPython board definitions for devices I’ve purchased…
- M5Stack Dial
- M5Stack DIN Meter
- Seeed Studio XIAO RP2040 (PR #14402)
Again, please test if you can! Reach out if you need help building.
Projects
LD06-LIDAR library
Tim McGuffin created a library - LD06-Lidar-micropython - to interface to the LD06, one of the more affordable (US$10?!) LIDAR devices.
He then went on to render the output as a quick demo of what’s possible:
Car Base Board
The Car Base Board is designed to host an STM32 Black Pill and allow easy interfacing to motors and sensors.
CNX Review: Easily build a robot car with the Car Base Board for the STM32F411 “Black Pill” board
A whole bunch of demos and MicroPython example code can be found on their CarBaseBoard repository.
Pick one the bare base board for US$14
Quick Bytes
- Kwabena Agyeman (OpenMV) was on episode #477 the Embedded.fm podcast
- Mahmood Shilleh: How to Connect BH1750 with the Raspberry Pi Pico/Pico W (article, video)
- Lorraine McUnderwood: Moon Phase Display with Raspberry Pi Pico (article, video, code)
- Reducing Raspberry Pi Pico W power consumption and a second attempt at using solar panels
Final Thoughts
Scroll art from Al
Al Sweigart (author of the popular Python book Automate the Boring Stuff) presented a cool lightning talk at PyCon US - it’s a scroll art animation synchronised to Oingo Boingo’s Forbidden Zone:
Lego + Rubik’s cube + MicroPython = ?
Midjourney fun
